Cong turn sends Bill to cold storage

"The House stands divided on some of the Bill’s provisions as certain parties have strong reservations and have even objected to its introduction. It is desirable to function in a homogenous and consensual manner. We are all aware of what happened yesterday (the paper snatching incidents) and cannot allow this situation to continue."

"I have been consulting leaders and trying to reach a consensus which has so far not beenpossible. In the all-party meeting this morning a suggestion was made that the introduction of the Bill may be deferred so that the matter could be discussed again between parties and an amicable solution acceptable to all sections reached," Balayogi ruled.

He did this soon after allowing Union Law Minister Thambi Durai to move the Bill for seeking leave of the House for its introduction. It was a swift, agreed-upon and neat end to a matter which has had the House in the grip of strong passions both pro and anti to the Bill. Later both the Congress and the BJP focussed on the Speaker saying his ruling was supreme to anything the party may feel on the Bill. Left leaders were upset saying they were not consulted before the Speaker deferred it the way he did. But it didn’t matter as the deed was done. Predictably, this wasn’t an easy thing to accept for the women MPs whose turn it was today to block Lok Sabha proceedings for the better part of the day demanding that the Bill be introduced at once. While thewomen were relatively peaceful, RJP member Anand Mohan took a surprisingly vocal stance in their favour.

He was so irritable to other members of the House, not allowing Balram Jakhar to speak and keeping up a chant for the Bill, that he had to be bundled out on the Speaker’s orders. On the way out, dragged away by six marshals, Mohan slammed at a door of the lobby, smashing a window pane and hurting himself in the process. It was probably the most violent exit of a member from the House in recent times and showed that the last word hasn’t been heard on the Bill yet.

However, the more important development on the future of the Bill took place early in the morning. Under pressure from several quarters, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had summoned an emergency meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) at 24, Akbar Road. Almost all party MPs trooped in for what was a major shift in stand.

After nearly two hours, the Congress, and more importantly Sonia, had accepted that Rajiv Gandhi’s legacy of theWomen’s Bill in the current form needed to be updated. Nearly 30 people, apart from Sonia Gandhi’s opening and concluding remarks, had spoken on issues which were sacrosanct earlier.

The basic thrust of the open debate was that the Women’s Bill was fine in its content when Rajiv Gandhi had conceptualised it a decade ago with the Congress at the helm. But now things have changed, mandal and kamandal have come and stayed and even the sacred 33 per cent reservation figure was probably on the higher side, MPs said.

Among those who spoke were: P Upendra, Shivraj Patil, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, Jaffer Shareif, Janardhana Poojary, Ranganath Mishra, R L Jalappa, Sharad Pawar, Sitaram Kesri, Shiv Shanker, Rajesh Pilot, Najma Heptulla, Urmilaben Patel and H R Bharadwaj. The net result: Sonia had made a crucial shift in her own assessment of Rajiv’s legacy and decided it was time to move on.So now, the party is open to practically any change in the Bill’s provisions. The 33 per cent reservation quota is open tonegotiations, it could be slashed, reservations for OBCs is fait accompli and even religious minorities could be in for some quota should the Congress feel so.

Most of these are what other parties like the SP, RJD, MIM, IUML, BSP, JP, RPI and some Independents are demanding. The BJP, though, hasn’t made up its mind with any clarity. In the coming weeks, Congress leaders will sit and thrash out their party’s proposed amendments and others are expected to follow suit.

The outcome will decide the extent of alteration of the current Women’s Reservation Bill. In any case, it is unlikely to come up again in this session leaving everybody, barring the Left, with enough time.